David Countryman cited for 35 years of service to village department, community
By Marney Simon | Enterprise Staff
A long-time Plainfield resident has been given a prestigious recognition from the village board.
On April 2, Mayor Mike Collins and village trustees honored David Countryman with the 2018 Samuel A. Greeley Award.
Countryman, a 30-year Plainfield resident, was honored by the board for the positive impact he has had on the community.
Countryman began working for the village as a part-time employee back in 1983 for the public works department.
Director of Public Works Allen Persons noted that when Countryman began working for the village, Plainfield’s population was just 3,000, and local roads totaled just 50 lane miles. At the time, the village had only seven employees in the public works department.
Since then, the population has grown to more than 42,000, with more than 400 miles of roads to maintain.
“He’s had a positive impact on this community,” Persons said. “He actually started out as a part-time employee [and] the village has grown tremendously since that point.”
As a member of the public works department, Countryman has served in the engineering division of public works as laborer, equipment operator, crew leaders, street superintendent, and project manager. Accomplishments over the past 30 years include:
- Helping to design and maintain 350 miles of new road
- Helping in the design and installation of five traffic signals
- Working on public improvements in 55 village subdivisions
- Working on the addition of a new, 75,000 square-foot Public Works Facility
- Working on the Lockport Street Reconstruction and Streetscape Improvement Project.
“He’s worked on many other projects as well. Under this time, the village has actually received seven ‘project of the year’ awards under this time,” Persons said. “In his time, Dave has just had a tremendous, positive impact on this community, and we want to recognize him.”
Countryman was also a first responder during the 1990 tornado and supported the community during the devastating flood in 1996.
Trustee Margie Bonuchi added that Countryman’s work has gone well beyond serving in the public works department.
“On behalf of the Riverfront Foundation as well, Dave has done tremendous work partnering with the riverfront,” Bonuchi said. “They’re working on a lighting project for the park that he’s done substantial work on, and also Plainfield Fest. Plainfield Fest is a wonderful event that everyone enjoys, but there’s a lot of people… who do a lot of work for that, and Dave is a key part to making that happen as well. He’s just a legacy here, this is what makes the town, it’s people who spend this much time trying to make it better for everyone else.”
The Samuel Arnold Greeley Award is presented the American Society of Civil Engineers. The award was first instituted in 1968 by the Sanitary Engineering Division (now the Environmental and Water Resources Institute) of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and is endowed by professional associates of Samuel A. Greeley
The award is bestowed on civil engineers who have shown superior work and work ethic in the areas of design, construction, operation or financing of water supply, pollution control, storm drainage or solid waste collection and disposal facilities over the past year. The award is also given to civil engineers who make the most valuable contribution to the environmental engineering profession.